Rába Group started the year 2018 successfully: the consolidated revenue reached HUF 12.4 billion, which corresponds to a 17.5 percent growth compared to the base period, and is the second highest group-level income in a decade. The excellent financial result, and the potentially lasting nature of the recovery of the key markets help the continuously modernizing company to broaden its business opportunities.

One of the tokens of Rába’s success is the production tailored to customer demand, which helped the company to follow flexibly the growth in the European markets in 2018 Q1. Sales in the Axle Unit were boosted by the European heavy truck segment, while in the Vehicle Unit the surge in turnover was due to the welded vehicle chassis market. All three business units of the group contributed with profits to the operating result that, with HUF 550 million, was more than the double of the HUF 286 million realized in 2017 Q1. This growth also brought an improvement in efficiency: the ROS index calculated with the operating profit reached 4.4 percent, which is a 1.9 pp rise. The EBITDA-level efficiency also increased: the return on sales was 8.5 percent in 2018 Q1 (a 1.1 pp rise), the EBITDA profit exceeded HUF 1 billion.

Rába Group retained its solid liquidity position in the first quarter of this year. The growth of the net borrowing is under the total control of the company, and its level continues to remain below the industry’s average. As a result of the profitable and efficient operation, the company’s shareholders’ equity increased by 8.1 percent compared to the base period.

"This business year has started out strongly for Rába, our operation has been characterized by outstanding sales growth and efficiency. The surge in the key European markets together with our solid financial background significantly facilitates the expansion of our opportunities to business projects either on our own initiative, or in co-operation with our partners." – said István Pintér, President and CEO of Rába Automotive Holding Plc.